


All My Holidays

by anniesardors



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Dating, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Holidays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28459365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anniesardors/pseuds/anniesardors
Summary: A collection of Upstead one-shots following their growing relationship through a year of holidays
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 7
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to All My Holidays! This is a collection of upstead one shots detailing a year's worth of their holidays together as a couple. As of now, I plan for this story to be about 13 chapters long, but if there is anything you would like to see, let me know!
> 
> Follow me on tumbler @anniesardors to leave prompts!
> 
> Thank you all for your kind support!

\----------------------------------------  
“Hey Goldilocks, come here for a second.” 

Hailey glances up from the files she is reading and by the look on the Sargent’s face, she certainly should have let Kevin run this folder down to record keeping. She sighs, closing the manila folder and making her way to the desk.

“What’s up Sarge?” She rests her arms on the desk, raising herself slightly on her toes and leaning forward.

“Who are you bringing to the holiday party? I’m trying to get a headcount.” Platt says matter of factly, barely even looking at the detective while she speaks, instead busying herself with some papers in front of her.

“Myself?” Hailey says slowly, as if she is not sure it is the correct answer.

Platt gives her that look, pulling her attention from the papers to Hailey. “I meant who are you bringing at your date.

“I’m not bringing any-”

“You have to bring a date.” Platt cuts her off.

“I went by myself last year.” Hailey shoots Platt a confused look, but the older woman doesn’t bite.

“It’s not last year now is it. I’m trying to look out for you all upstairs. I can’t have all the members of Intelligence dying alone because they decided to spend every waking minute in that bullpen.” Platt tells her and Hailey swears she will never quite figure this woman out. 

“I’ll be having this conversation with Jay and Kevin too.” Platt adds.

“Why not Kim and Adam?” Hailey asks and she is once again rewarded with one of Platt’s did you really just say that? faces. 

“I’m not a monster, Hailey.” The tone of her voice almost sounds offended and Hailey really wishes she had asked Kevin to run these papers downstairs, because this conversation continues to derail off of the tracks. “Besides, I promise you they’ll both get as drunk as they did last year and they’ll go home together. They don’t need my help.”

“But I do?” 

“Oh dear, you have no idea.”

\----------------------------------------

“Have I mentioned that I hate the cold?” Hailey huffs, a small puff of freezing air coming from her mouth.

“Not in the last five minutes.” Jay teases and she rolls her eyes at him. They are sitting in the back of the van, doing surveillance on the latest of criminals who they’ve had the fortune of crossing paths with. She understands that crime does not take a break for the holidays, but damn if they could at least get an interesting case because this one is shaping up to being a boring bust, thus allowing for their small talk in the back of the van.

“The normal cold, I’m fine with.” Hailey continues. “But it’s literally too cold to snow. Too cold to snow. What type of Antarctic city do we live in?” 

“You could go back to New York.” He says softly and she stops herself from rolling her eyes again because that will just earn her another smart comment from Jay.

She has been back from New York for a few months and the first few weeks back her chaos to say the least. Vanessa left for an undercover assignment and yet another change in the team led to having to regroup yet again. Not to mention all the chaos that was 2020 and having to try to serve the city during that. But Jay was her constant through it all. They had certainly become closer after her return to the windy city. During her time away, they had spent much time texting and Facetiming and their flirty banter only continued when she came home. Neither one of them was exactly discreet about their attraction for the other, but neither had been bold enough to take that next step. 

“And deprive myself of the opportunity to freeze my ass off in the back of your van?” She smiles. “Hell no.”

He doesn’t say anything, just flashes her a typical Jay smile, and she swears she has to will her heart to stop beating faster when he looks at her that way.

“You looking forward to the holiday party tomorrow?” He changes the subject and the question is not even out of his mouth before Hailey starts groaning. He laughs, saying “Wow I knew you weren’t a holiday person, but wow. At least last year you were on board for the free booze.”

“Last year Platt wasn’t on my ass about bringing a date.” Hailey quips back.

“Really?” Jay says as he stretches in his seat. They’ve been sitting in this van for three hours doing surveillance and still have nothing. She is surprised he is still able to sit still. 

“Don’t laugh. She told me she is coming for you next. Something about making sure all of intelligence doesn’t die alone.” 

Jay shakes his head. “Something tells me she is going to leave Adam and Kim alone though?”

Hailey smiles. “She said they could figure themselves out. She thinks they’ll get drunk and leave together.”

“Probably.” Jay hums and Hailey thinks back to the last holiday party, with Kim’s slurred words and Adam’s one to many drunken shouts of “Merry Christmas Chicago!” A smile curls on her lips at the thought and she is brought back to reality when Jay says “But she’s got no such hope for us?”

The layered meaning of Jay’s words are not lost on her, but she decides the back of the van while they are doing surveillance and she is so cold she truly believes her hands might fall off might just not be the place for that conversation. 

“Apparently not. She told me she will find someone to set me up with and that is just punishment that I do not need.” 

“We could just tell Platt we’re going together.” He offers up casually. 

She doesn’t answer at first, leaning closer to the window, grasping the camera in her hand, thinking maybe she can will their suspect to make an appearance at this moment to avoid whatever conversation she and her partner are about to have. She releases a heavy sigh, knowing their day is a bust and there is no way they will be seeing anything resembling action any time soon. 

“So that’s your plan to get them off our backs?” She finally says. “For a detective, you’re not that smart.”

He smirks at her joke. “Just saying if it’s between Platt trying to set me up or her giving me a hard time for going with you, I’ll go with the latter.” 

Hailey lets out a laugh and tries to avoid the burning red that is rising in her cheeks. “I would take that as a compliment but I know you are just genuinely terrified of who Platt would set you up with.” 

“Hails, you know I’d always choose you.” He says honestly and when she gives him a small, but questioning smile, he adds. “But yeah, the less Platt interferes with my love life, the better.”

\--------------------------------------

It’s decided. They will go together to the holiday party, for nothing more than to get Platt off of their backs. She convinces herself it’s not a big deal, because honestly they were basically going together to begin with. He would have picked her up in his truck and they would have left together to head back to her place to have another beer and laugh about what antics the rest of their coworkers caused during the night. Still, that fact in mind, she still felt nervousness in her stomach at the thought of going to the holiday party with Jay.

His response to Platt when she brought up the party did not help either. 

“Chuckles,” Platt called out when the duo returned from their failed surveillance endeavour. Jay smirked at Hailey, before making his way to the desk sergeant while Hailey hung back.

“Sarge, we’ve been over this. It’s Detective Chuckles, thank you very much.”

Platt shoots him an unamused face and Hailey almost laughs watching the woman. “Okay, funny guy. I’m doing a final headcount and I need to know who you’re bringing as your date. If you don’t have someone, I will gladly call-”

“I’m going with Hailey.” He cuts her off and Hailey can only imagine his face. However Platt was going to end that sentence, he certainly did not want to wait around long enough to find out. 

“I know you two are joined at the hip, but I meant your date. It’s like I told blondie, I’m trying to make sure you all don’t die alone. And you seem to have an affinity for getting shot, so you need extra help.”

“I know what you meant Sarge. I’m going with Hailey. I appreciate your concern, but I’m good.” 

Hailey sees Platt make a questioning face and she is not sure what look Jay gives her in return, but the woman stands down and finally says. “Good. You two better not be late.”

The damn butterflies in her stomach come back again and when he turns around to look at her, a smug smile plastered on his face, she knows she is in trouble.

\--------------------------------------

The music is loud in Molly’s and the laughter is infectious. Hailey is nursing a beer and standing next to Kevin while they watch Adam and Jay play some dumb party game against Casey and Severide. As they watch their coworkers try (and utterly fail), she turns to Kevin and says “So, did you find someone to bring or is Platt setting you up with someone?”

Kevin scrunches his face in confusion. “Upton, what are you talking about?”

Hailey takes another drink of her beer. “Platt basically forced Jay and I to bring dates to this thing or she would set us up with people. She said she would do the same with you. Something about making sure the whole unit didn’t die alone upstairs.” She laughs.

“Platt didn’t say anything to me.”

Hailey lowers her drink. “You sure?”

Kevin chuckles. “Pretty sure. Y’all got played.”

Hailey groans because, as a detective, she really should have caught on to Platt’s little game a bit quicker. Platt did not say anything to Kevin because she was not concerned about them not all dying alone, but she wanted Jay and Hailey to wake the hell up. The duo had received a comment or twelve from the woman about the closeness of their relationship and apparently she no longer had the patience for the two of them to figure themselves out. It now made sense that she gave up fighting so easily when Jay said he was going to bring Hailey.

She was never going to set them up with other people at all. She was going to get them up with each other. 

Damn that woman was good.

Party members start cheering and Hailey sees that the men of 51 had won whatever ridiculous game they were playing and are accepting high fives and hugs from their fellow fire-fighters. Adam and Jay start walking towards the table Kevin and Hailey are at and she takes that moment to grab Jay’s arm and drag him towards a quieter corner of the bar.

“She played us. I can’t believe we didn’t realize what she was doing.” Hailey mutters when they are standing by the door and out of earshot of their friends. 

“What are you talking about?”

“Platt didn’t talk to Kevin about bringing anyone,” Hailey explains. “Just us.” Jay’s face is still riddled with confusion and she swears someone needs to take away one of their badges.

“She wanted this” Hailey motions between the two of them quickly. “She set us up and we fell for it.”

Jay groans, realizing she is right. He glances to where Platt is sitting with Mouch and Voight and he knows he should have expected something like this because it’s Platt.

“Do we say something or-”

“No” Jay turns back to Hailey and cuts her off. “She wants to mess with us, well two can play at that game.”

“You have a death wish, don’t you.” Hailey rolls her eyes.

“She was worried about us dying alone. At least I know she will kill you too.” There’s that smirk again and Hailey knows it’s probably not a good idea, but she’s one too many drinks in to think clearly, and damn if she does not want to mess with Platt, even just a little.

\--------------------------------------

The rest of the night, every time they were with Platt, they turned on the act. Hailey would lean into Jay’s side a bit more than necessary, Jay would rest his hand on her shoulder or her back, and both would glance at the other, a knowing smirk in their eyes. They would touch more, laugh more, and flirt more than a typical day, but no one said anything about it. Kevin must have caught on to what they were doing because he doesn’t say a word and just smirks at them when he goes to refill his drink. Kim and Adam are too far gone to notice the change in their workers' behavior, leaving Trudy Platt as the only one to make a comment.

“A little cozy, are we there detectives?” She says as they lean against the bar. Holiday karaoke is taking place and Hermann and Cruz are belting out an off key rendition of “Let It Snow.” Kevin is laughing at a table with Dr. Marcel and Adam and Kim are quietly chatting (or flirting) in a corner, leaving the partners alone with Platt.

Jay shrugs and Hailey can feel his body move against hers. His arm is around her shoulder and she is leaning against his back. Every now and then, he will rest his head against hers and watch their friends drunkenly sing another holiday song. A small smile rests on Hailey’s face as she enjoys the entertainment and the closeness. 

“Appears my work here is done.” She states somewhat proudly and Hailey plays dumb, looking at Platt with a questioning face, but the older woman just stands up and says something about teaching the boys of House 51 how to hold their liquor before she disappears into the crowd.

Hailey glances up at Jay. “She’s gonna be pissed when she finds out her plan did not actually work.” 

Jay laughs and he removes his arm from her shoulder. “She’s going to pester us non-stop for the next month about this, just watch.”

“You didn’t think about that when you came up with this little plan, did you?” Hailey teases and she watches his eyes become serious.

“I did.” He shrugs. “Just didn’t care. It was worth it”

“If you wanted to put your arm around me, Halstead, you didn’t need to make up some excuse of trying to trick Platt.” Hailey laughs softly and the warmth in her cheeks grows. It’s a dangerous line they are walking but blame it on Platt or the alcohol.

“Oh really?” A cocky grin decorates his face and his green eyes light up and Hailey can feel the return of those butterflies in her stomach. “Would you let me hold your hand or would I need an excuse for that?”

“Maybe. If you were really nice.” Hailey smiles at him, and then casually glances up at the karaoke where Sylvia and Natalie and half singing half laughing their way through Jingle Bell Rock.

She returns her gaze to Jay and he doesn’t move. His eyes are locked on her and he has a serious, low tone when he whispers “Would I need an excuse to kiss you?”

Hailey is taken back by his boldness and it takes her a second to collect her thoughts. She wants to tease him, to challenge him, to kiss him, but they are surrounded by their friends and coworkers, so she plays it safe. “That would really mess with Platt, wouldn’t it?”

“What if I told you it wasn’t to trick Platt?” 

Hailey stares at him and sees no trace of teasing on his face. He is serious.

“I would say we should probably get out of here then.” 

Before Hailey can register what is happening, Jay has grabbed her hand and is leading her out of Molly’s. Lucky for them, most of their friends are too drunk or busy or both to notice them leaving, together mind you. The minute they are through the door she feels the cold Chicago air, but that does not wake her up as much as Jay pulling her close and gently leaning her against the brick wall of the bar. 

He pauses for a moment, just looking at her, and maybe it is the holiday spirit or the drinks (but it’s probably the way that he is looking at her) that makes her say “You need an excuse to kiss me, or are you just going to do it?” 

A devilish smile flashes on his face and before Hailey can register her thoughts, his lips are on hers and he kisses her. She grabs his jacket and pulls him closer to her, kissing him deeper. She is unsure of how many minutes they stand there like that, but it somehow feels like years yet seconds when he finally, tentatively pulls away from her and gently rests his forehead on hers. 

“I’ve been looking for an excuse to do that for a while” He teases.

“Well, I guess now you don’t need one.” She says softly before raising herself up on her toes to kiss him again. 

She thinks to herself, here in this moment, kissing her partner in the cold Chicago air outside their favorite bar, that maybe holiday miracles do happen, or at the very least, Platt is not a half-bad matchmaker. Not that she would ever admit it to her though. 

(In fact, they don’t tell her or anyone about their little secret for months. They spend their next few holidays celebrating secretly, with loving glances that their friends see, but do not understand. They do not tell anyone until a holiday party much like this one- a fourth of July barbeque filled with much laughter and too many drinks.

But that’s another story.)   
\--------------------------------------


	2. New Years Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay and Hailey spend their first new years eve together!

It has been eleven days, not even a full two weeks. Eleven days of stolen kisses and longing gazes. Eleven days of quick touches and whispers of “when we get home.” Eleven days of going home with him and waking up with him.

Eleven days since he pressed her up against the brick of the bar and kissed her. Eleven days since she hopped in his truck and he took them both to her place and he never left. 

The past eleven days have felt like nothing has changed yet everything has. They have not told anyone, because while they love their friends, workplace romances are complicated and they both have every intention of this one lasting, so they need time to get a solid bearing before they involve their coworkers. So, at work, they act like they always did. They are efficient partners through and through and their personal lives have not changed that. 

However, now, when they are alone in the truck, he will casually rest his hand on her thigh and when they are sitting at their desks doing paperwork, she might kick him a time or two to tease him. 

When they come into work early the Monday after the holiday party, Platt is ready for them. However, when she asks them how they enjoyed the rest of their night after the party and she makes a suggestive comment about not seeing the two of them leave, they both just tell her that they went back home and went to sleep (which was not entirely false.) They continued to bore her with details about their respective weekends, Hailey doing grocery shopping and Jay grabbing a beer with Will.

(They don’t mention the fact that Jay went grocery shopping with her because he spent the whole weekend at her place and she had no food and he insisted on cooking a real meal for her. 

“I didn’t get to take you on a date before I kissed you, so humor me.”

They also don’t tell the Sargent that after Jay had drinks with his brother, he returned to his partner's house and snuck into her bed and was greeted with her sleepy whispers. 

“I’m glad you went out with your brother, but I’m even more glad you’re back because you make a nice pillow.”

Platt didn’t need those details.) 

At work, the days following the Holiday party were spent just like every other day of the year and after a few days of making comments and asking questions, Platt resigned herself to the fact that the detectives had too much to drink at the holiday party and that was why they were extra touchy. 

Outside of work though, it’s a different story. 

They spend most of their time together (not like they were not doing that before) but they both enjoy the freedom to kiss each other whenever they would like. They spend most of their time at Hailey’s place because it’s bigger and Hailey reasons “my mattress is comfier.” Jay doesn’t complain though.

They spend Christmas Eve together. After years of working in Intelligence, they have both learned to not make hard and fast plans for the holidays because at the drop of a hat, their availability could change. This year is no expectation when they catch a kidnapping case on December 23. They do not wrap the case until 9:00pm on the 24th and there is visible relief on all of their faces for the safety of the child, but also the fact that they will not be in the bullpen on Christmas day. 

When Voight finally tells them to go home, no one argues. Less than an hour later, Jay and Hailey are on her couch, eating Chinese food and watching Christmas movies (but the “non-lame ones” as Hailey calls them, because she really does not want something touchy-feely like It’s a Wonderful Life, but she wants to laugh watching Elf or she wants to watch some action in Die Hard.)

They eat some store-bought Christmas cookies Jay picked up the other day after work and they drink hot chocolate while enjoying each other’s warmth under their shared blanket. They fall asleep on the couch and when Jay softly stirs at 3:32am, waking Hailey up with him, he greets her with a sleepy smile and whispers “Merry Christmas.”

It might just be her favorite Christmas yet.

They don’t spend Christmas day together and it feels odd to not be glued to his side like she has been since the holiday party. She wakes up with him and leaving him is harder than it should be for the short time they have been together, but when he kisses her and says “See you soon” her heart is made happy again. 

It’s one of the few years Will is not on shift during Christmas day. He worked both Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve this year, but he has Christmas itself off and Hailey knows the brothers are excited to actually spend a holiday together, even if neither of them will admit it. They had been planning on making a simple dinner and watching a football game together for the last few weeks and Hailey is happy at how close the two were and how they were finally able to spend some time together.

Hailey, on the other hand, makes the hour and a half drive out of the city and to her older brother, Thomas’s house. Growing up the way they did, Hailey and her brothers had a somewhat special bond. Their childhoods were rocky, to say the least, but they learned at a young age that they needed to protect each other in this world and that they did. Hailey had not seen her parents in a few years, but she made an effort to catch up with her brothers and their families when her schedule allowed for it. 

They both enjoyed their respective holidays, laughing with their families and eating way too much food, sharing the few happy stories they had from their childhood and forgetting for a few moments all of the pain. But, when Jay left Will’s place and went back to his apartment and Hailey arrived 45 minutes later, they enjoyed the last few minutes of the holiday in their own special way. 

\-----------------------------------------

For most, the days between Christmas and New Years are a haze. No one knows that day it is, nothing matters and time is an illusion. The same could not be said for the Intelligence Unit, however. On December 28th, it was back to business as usual and every minute of their day was filled with cases. 

And that’s how the team found themselves come December 31st- nose deep into a gang war case with no real end in sight. Unlike the holiday party eleven days prior, the first responders of Chicago had no real plans for New Years Eve. Many of their friends at firehouse 51 were on shift tonight and had plans to ring in the New Year at the house. Med needed all the help it could get during News Years Eve and Will and several of their other friends would be on shift or on-call tonight. They, similarly, had plans to sneak away into the doctor's lounge for a few minutes and celebrate the new year together.

That left the Intelligence unit. They all agreed if they got out of work anytime before midnight, they would head over to Mollys to ring in the new year. All day they all would glance at the clock or their phones, growing more and more antsy with each time check. Hailey would find a few moments to look up from her computer and sneak a quick peek at Jay (who was always already looking at her) and she couldn’t wait until they were able to escape this precinct and find some time alone. 

It’s 10:28pm when Hank takes mercy on their souls and tells them to leave and not come back until tomorrow afternoon. To most police officers, Hank Voight appears to be all work no play, the strictest and the toughest that the Chicago police department has to offer. But his team knows the truth. He demands excellence, he wants to stop crime, but he has a soft spot for his officers and he wants them to have something resembling normal life moments every now and then.

The team invites Voight out with them, but he waves off their offer, stating he is going to call his grandson and ring in the new year with Daniel and Olive. Platt tells them that, while she would love to out drink off of their young asses, she is going to head over to 51 to spend midnight with Mouch. With that, Jay, Hailey, Adam, Kim and Kevin made their way to the bar to send off 2020. 

“Shots. Now.” Adam says the minute they walk through the door and the gang wastes no time in catching up to how much the rest of the bar has had to drink. They tuck themselves into a table in the corner, Jay and Hailey on one side, Kevin and Kim on the other, with Adam pulling up a chair and sitting at the head. 

“Guys, can we appreciate that not only did we get Christmas day off, but we also got out before midnight on New Years Eve? I know this year has sucked, but that type of miracle has never happened.” Kim says after a few drinks. 

“Too bad everyone else is working tonight,” Adam says and Hailey hums in agreement, thinking of the years past when their friends from Med and Firehouse 51 lucked out and didn’t have to work and could spend the evening celebrating with them.

“What, you saying you don’t want to spend some time with us?” Jay scoffs. “Honestly, I’m offended.” 

Hailey glances at him slightly and she is happy that the table is small because she is practically sitting right up against him, which he uses as an excuse to brush his hand against her knee every now and then. 

Before Adam can respond, Kim cuts him off. “Boys, no fighting. I’m not spending one of the rare instances that we get off listening to you two fight. I can do that at work and actually get paid.” 

They all laugh and Kim adds “Favorite memory of the year. Go.”

Kevin takes a sip of his beer. “I’m not sure if this is the year to play the favorite memories game.” He says with a chuckle.

Kim smiles and it is obvious she is starting to feel buzzed. “Humor me. You can think of one happy memory. And if you can’t, keep drinking until you can.”

With that, the whole table laughed and took a drink of their respective beverages. 

“I’ll start,” Kim says, rolling her eyes at her coworkers. “Vanessa’s birthday party.”

The gang all smiles at the mention of Vanessa. They celebrated her birthday several weeks after Kim and Adam lost their baby and it was the first time that they had seen Kim genuinely smile since the trauma. Now, Vanessa was doing an undercover operation and they all missed their former teammate. 

“Damn that girl can party,” Kevin mutters and Hailey smiles, knowing he missed the petite officer as much as she did. 

“Okay, my turn,” Adam says. “Joe Cruz’s wedding reception. I do not remember the last time I danced that hard.” 

“And I hope you don’t dance that hard for a long long time.” Kevin adds and they all laugh.

“Okay Mr. Hot Shot,” Adam quips back. “What about you?”

Kevin shrugs. “I think Jordan coming back. I don’t love why he initially came back, but I’m happy that we are closer now. I missed having him here.” 

The team knew it had been a hard year for Kevin, for more reason than one. He had a rough go of it for a few months with his brother. But, thankfully, they were working on their relationship and they were closer now than before.

“What about you two lovebirds?” Kevin teases, looking at Jay and Hailey. 

“Any time I wasn’t in New York was the highlight.” Hailey laughs and she is not exactly lying. She loved her time in New York, sure, but she was a Chicago girl through and through. “I also loved living with Vanessa. I haven’t had a roommate in such a long time and I forgot how much fun it could be.”

The house is quieter without Vanessa now and Hailey secretly missed the young officer waking up early and staying up late, her excitement on their days off and her enthusiasm when they caught a case. She is happy that Jay comes over more now to help fill the silence, but she still misses her best friend.

“Jay.” Kim says. “Favorite memory?”

He sets down his beer and answers. “When Hailey came back from New York.” Kevin and Adam both give him questioning looks and Hailey can feel the heat rise in her cheeks. She is happy he continues to talk and takes away any potential attention that would have been on her. “Our team was whole again. And we are a damn good team.”

“That might just be the nicest thing I have ever heard out of Jay Halstead’s mouth.” Kevin says. “It’s a New Years miracle.” 

They all laugh and Hailey just smiles at him. She knows that his answer is only partially true. He was happy she came back because she came back to him. Her leaving was the final push they needed to both accept their feelings for the other, although it still took them a few more months to make anything official. 

“Oh, guys!?” Kim yells and it pulls Hailey out of her thoughts. “It’s almost midnight!”

They all turn their attention to the tv and the cheers of the bar and their fellow Chicagoans start a countdown. 

“Ten, nine, eight…”

They all grab their beers, ready to toast to a new year.

“Seven, six, five…”

Jay smiles at Hailey and all she can think is how happy she is that she had him during this past year.

“Four, three, two…”

Hailey grabs his hand under the table, where no one can see, and gives him a squeeze, letting him know that she fully plans to enjoy this year with him.

“One! Happy New Year!”

The crowd erupts in yells and cheers and the police officers toast their drinks and hug each other. But Jay and Hailey just keep their gaze on each other. 

\-----------------------------------------

By the time Jay and Hailey arrive back at her place, it’s 12:47am on January 1. The team opted to not stay out too late since they still needed to go to work the next day. The split an Uber and Hailey suggested Jay just sleep on her couch since his truck was still at the precinct. If their coworkers suspected anything, they didn’t say a word. 

When they arrived at her place, Hailey went to her kitchen to get a glass of water, Jay on her heels. “It was a good night.” She said and he hums in agreement. 

She turns around, setting her water on the counter beside her and cocking her head at him. “What, you not have a good time?”

He is leaning against the kitchen island, a few feet away from her. He looks a little tired and she knows that the case has been getting to him and if it was not a holiday, he probably would have passed on the bar and suggested they call it an early night. 

“No, it was fun. I’m happy we weren’t still doing paperwork at midnight.”

“But?” She takes a step closer to him. 

“No buts. It was a good time.”

She raises an eyebrow at him, inching closer. “I know you. You’re hiding something.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” He whispers and as soon as she nods, he is reaching out to pull her into his arms, turning them so he is gently pressing her against the kitchen island.

“I was really hoping to kiss you at midnight.” He says softly.

“Really?” She says, leaning back a bit in his arms to see his face.

He nods. “Call me cheesy. And I knew it wouldn’t happen this year because we are still not telling our friends. But I guess for a while when I thought of new years eve, I thought of kissing you.”

“A while?” She teases. “So you mean to tell me Mr. Jay Halstead thought of kissing me even before we started dating?”

He awkwardly shrugs, her still in his arms, and she can feel his body move against hers. “What can I say? I may have had a bit of a crush on you for a while. Don’t tell anyone.”

She hums, face scrunching up happily at his words. “Well, I guess you’ll have to wait until the next New Years Eve.”

His smile lights up a bit at the mention of them being together next year at this time and she knows it's a bit early to be talking about celebrating holidays that far in advance given how short a time they have been together, but they both secretly know in their gut that this is it for them and they will be celebrating all of their holidays together for the foreseeable future (probably forever.)

“I don’t know if I can wait that long.” His voice is low and his eyes are set on hers. 

She glances at the clock. 12:51am. She looks up at him and whispers. “Well, it’s almost midnight in Colorado. So if you can wait nine minutes, we can pretend we’re in a different time zone and you can kiss me at midnight.”

“Nine minutes?” He pretends to contemplate what she has said. “Still can’t wait that long.” 

So he kisses her. It’s not a magical new year's eve kiss at midnight in celebration. It’s a quiet kiss in her kitchen at nearly 1am because they can. It’s sweet and it’s deep and it’s them and she thinks it’s over much too quickly when he finally pulls away from her and rests his forehead on hers. 

“Definitely couldn’t wait nine minutes for that.” She whispers and he just lets out a small laugh. 

“Happy New Years Hails.” He says softly and she can honestly say she thinks this might just be their year. 

“Happy New Years Jay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: valentines day


	3. Valentine's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Thanks for all your lovely support on the last two chapters! This story has been such a sweet one to write and I am so thankful you all are enjoying it.
> 
> For any friends out there who watched the tv show, Bones, there is a little Bones easter egg in this fic. I'll let you see if you can find it and I will tell you what it is in the notes below!
> 
> Enjoy the Valentine's Day Chapter!

The buzzing of her alarm pierces through the silence and Hailey wakes with a groan, knowing what the day will entail. Or, to be more accurate, what the holiday and their damn meddlesome coworkers will entail.

It's February 14th.

Valentine's day.

It's a Sunday and for the past few weeks, Jay and Hailey have been secretly thankful that the holiday was going to fall on a Sunday when they hypothetically should not be at work. But, crime does not stop, and late in the afternoon the prior day they caught a major case and the mayor insisted that Intelligence be the ones to work it. Since neither of them were big fans of the holiday, Jay and Hailey had not had huge fancy plans. They had planned to get Bartoli's on Saturday and then spend Sunday in bed.

So much for those plans.

"Happy Valentine's day to you too," Jay says in a sleepy voice when he hears her frustrated groan.

She raises herself on her elbow slightly, looking down at his head on his pillow. "I normally think this is a hallmark holiday. But not gonna lie, I was kinda looking forward to our celebrations." She says suggestively.

That seems to wake him up and he sits up a little to kiss her. "Well, maybe we will get out of work at a normal time and we can still celebrate a little."

She hums happily and after a few sweet, quiet moments with him in bed, she wills herself to get up, because on a normal day Voight would have their asses for being late, but if they are both late on Valentine's Day of all days, they would never hear the end of it.

"You know they are going to be impossible today, right?" Jay says, still in bed, as he watches her peel the blankets off herself and slowly throw her legs over the side of the bed and onto the floor.

"Oh I know." She sits on the edge of the bed, looking at him over her shoulder. "We are taking separate cars today."

He sits up and starts to argue, but she shoots him a look and he realizes that it is useless. He dramatically drops back onto the bed, Hailey rolling her eyes at his theatrics.

"You know, you're lucky I love you." He says at last.

It's not the first declaration of love, but that does not mean she does not get the same warm feeling in her heart. No, the first time he told her he loved it, it was during a quiet weekend home, about three weeks into their relationship. They were in the kitchen, making dinner, and Hailey was singing along to whatever song was playing on one of their phones, Jay laughing at the sight of her so laid back when he let it slip out.

Three weeks is a bit early to say "I love you" in most relationships, but they weren't most relationships.

"Yeah yeah I know," Hailey says, finally getting up and attempting to begin getting ready. She pauses for a moment, looking back at him. "Love you too."

* * *

Hailey gets to the district first and as she walks in and sees Platt's eager face, she is even more thankful that they decided to arrive separately today.

"Good morning goldilocks," Platt yells across the room.

"Hey, Sarge."

"Any big Valentine's Day plans?"

Hailey hums, playing with her keys in her hands. "Nothing besides the double homicide we caught yesterday."

"Shame." Platt sasses back. "Would've thought you and that partner of yours would have some plans."

Hailey knows what Platt is trying to do. The older woman has laid off them during the new year for the most part, but she still has her moments. Platt would not be Platt if she did not find at least one or two moments a week to make a comment about Jay and Hailey's relationship.

"You know what?" Hailey leans forward against the tall desk. "We do have plans. We are going to have a lovely coffee date in the break room and then we are going to go on a romantic truck ride to talk to a witness. Might even let him hold my hand."

Platt is clearly not amused, giving a sarcastic "har har" to Hailey in response. Hailey shakes her head, quickly changing the subject and asking Platt about the status of a warrant they were trying to get last night, thankful that the older woman takes the bait and lets Hailey off the hook.

The first time it happens, Hailey almost does not notice it. It is a little after 11 am and Jay and Hailey had just returned from questioning a witness. The minute they are back in the bullpen, she sits down at her desk with a huff, frustrated by how little information they were able to get out of the young woman they just interviewed.

He slips into the breakroom for a few minutes while she works away at her computer, hoping to find a new lead. When he comes out, he is holding two cups of coffee and quietly puts one on her desk before finding his way to his own seat to start his work. She whispers a quiet thank you, almost missing the blue sticky note that is on the cup.

In his neat handwriting is written, " _Would you police be my valentine?-J"_

She raises an eyebrow at him and there is a knowing smirk on his face as he continues to stare at his computer. She never took Jay as one who liked leaving little notes or making puns, but here he was, surprising her yet again. Hailey keeps her gaze on him, but as she hears footsteps coming up the stairs, she rips the little sticky note from the mug and quickly puts it in her desk drawer, making a mental note to tease him about it later.

The second time it happens, she is much more prepared. It's around 12:30 when she gets up to use the bathroom and when she comes back into the bullpen, Jay is leaning over Adam's desk, talking about a potential suspect. She sees the familiar square blue paper sticking to the work phone on her desk. Anyone else probably would have missed it, but she knew to be on alert, quickly making her way back to her desk and discreetly peeling the note off the phone and reading it.

" _You're under arrest for stealing my heart."_

Warmth is rising in her cheeks and she takes a few moments before turning around to catch his gaze. He is still standing over Adam's shoulder and just shoots her a sweet wink before continuing in his conversation with the other officer.

(She is off her game for a few minutes after that and Adam must notice because he asks her if she is thinking about her Valentine. She shoots him a glare that tells him to shut up before she needs to shut him up.

He doesn't say another word.)

The third time, they are in the locker room. They had just returned to the precinct after making an arrest. The suspect couldn't go down without a fight, leading to some bloodstains on her shirt and the need to rifle through her locker to find her extra. As she opens her locker, she almost misses the small blue square that is neatly pressed up on the locker door next to a picture she has hanging up of her and Vanessa. She looks around, making sure no one is in the locker room with her, before removing the paper from its place and reading it.

_You're my favorite person. You make me better every day._

Hailey can feel a grin growing on her face because it's no longer cheesy little love notes he is writing to her, but it's sentimental truths that make her heart want to soar. As she starts to read the note again, she hears footsteps entering the locker room, quickly pocketing the note and pretending like she was rummaging through her locker.

"Hailey are you-" She hears Jay's voice say and she relaxes a bit. The words fall on his lips when he sees her standing by her locker, face slightly reddened. A quick scan of his eyes tells him the note is gone and she must have read it, leading to a knowing smile on his face.

"You look happy." He teases, taking a step closer to her.

"Care to explain how you know my locker combination?" She ignores his statement as she turns to face him.

"Hails, I know everything about you."

She raises an eyebrow as if challenging him and he continues. "Your favorite flowers are daffodils. Your favorite planet is Jupiter. And your favorite person is me."

"I think that last one might be a bit of a stretch." She teases and he rolls his eyes, before leaning back to scan the locker room to make sure they are actually alone before closing the gap between them to give her a much too quick kiss.

"Hmm." She hums against his lips, before pulling back and gazing up at him. "Who would have thought that the Detective Halstead would be leaving me secret love notes all day. And some jokes too."

"Would you have rather I professed my love in the bullpen?" He asks jokingly. "Would've probably made it hard to keep this a secret."

She shakes her, amused at his joke. "Just wasn't expecting notes all day. You must have it bad."

"You have no idea." The arm he has snaked around her waist pulls her closer. As hard as it is to not tell any of their friends about their relationship, she likes these secret stolen moments that are just for them.

"I think I've got it bad too."

By the look on his face, he is about to respond and whatever he is going to say, it is going to be real and important, but they can hear Kevin yelling for them down the hall. Jay groans, peeling himself away from Hailey, winking at her before he calls out to Kevin that he is coming.

* * *

It's a long day after that, filled with an interrogation and yet another late-night arrest. It is 9:42 pm by the time Voight finally sends them home and Hailey sighs, knowing that she and Jay will probably only get ten minutes of alone time tonight before they both collapse from exhaustion.

But as Hailey is slipping out and Jay whispers "I'll see you at your place" she is more than thankful for the few minutes they will get together.

When Jay finally gets to her place, Hailey has been home for 20 minutes and already changed into leggings and one of Jay's old Academy sweatshirts. As the door creaks open, she hops up from her place on the couch, ready to tease him about what took so long, when she spots the yellow bouquet of daffodils in his hand.

"You know the guy at the store told me most guys would get red roses on Valentine's Day, but I think they're kinda overrated." He says in a cheeky way when he is finally in the door.

"Overrated, huh?" She steps closer to him, flowers still in his hands, his jacket still on. "I seem to remember you getting me red roses before?"

"Yeah, but that was for a case and a bad one at that." He presses the flowers into her hand, his fingers resting on hers. "Plus, everyone does red roses..and we're not everyone."

He presses a feather-light kiss to her lips and she melts into him. It's over as soon as it starts and he leans back, shooting her a dopey smile as he shrugs off his jacket and takes off his boots.

"You are full of surprises, you know that?" Hailey tells him, inspecting the flowers in her hands.

"That so?"

"You were wildly cheesy all day." She walks over to the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase and notices that he is following her. "You left me notes all day and got me flowers. Didn't think you were such a romantic."

He waits until the flowers are safely in a vase to move closer to her, his hands finding their way to her waist, his body leaning into hers. "Well, maybe it's because I love you and you make me want to be romantic."

"Maybe?" She teases and he kisses the small grin off her lips before whispering to her.

"Definitely." He rests his forehead against hers and they stand there for a few moments, enjoying the silence before Hailey pulls back to look up at him.

"You know I normally hate Valentine's Day?" She has one hand wrapped securely around his back and moves her other hand to lay on his chest.

"Yeah?"

Hailey hums. "I think I hate it a little less this year because of you."

A smile plays at his lips as he says, "As long as we are making confessions, I have one too. I normally hate Valentine's Day too and I've never really been a romantic." He pauses for a moment, his eyes finding hers and he removes one hand from her back to move a strand of hair from her face.

"But I've also never felt like this before. There was never really anyone that made me want to be romantic and celebrate Valentine's Day until you."

There is no articulate response she can come up with for the words he has said. No sentence she can say that tells him how much she understands what he is telling her because she feels the same way. So, she responds by pressing herself up on her toes and kissing him slowly, letting her lips tell him without words how much he means to her.

She has never been one for Valentine's Day, but kissing Jay in her kitchen, late at night after a long day of chaos, she begins to understand the appeal of the holiday a little more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> So the line "Your favorite flowers are daffodils. Your favorite planet is Jupiter. And your favorite person is me." is inspired by the Bones. It's the scene Bones is trying to change her password, but Booth knows her too well.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr anniesardors for more fics or to talk anything upstead!
> 
> Up next: Saint Patrick's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Stay tuned for the next update!


End file.
